Two Ligbi men from Bongase appear in masquerade regalia prior to a "Do" or "Bedu" performance at the commissioning celebration of the Banda Cultural Centre in Ahenkro. Their carved wooden masks represent a male and female pair of baboons (Mbong in Ligbi). Their heads and shoulders are draped in scarves, they wear raffia skirts around their waist, and over top of socks covering their feet they wear metal jangles on a chain wrapped around their ankles. They are accompanied by a number of men from Bongase. Pictured L-R: Fariah Salah, Kwame Yirikro, Abau Yaya, Abuu Doctor (masked dancer), Adoma, Ansoma Sala (masked dancer), Dandu, Alhaji Moro Mahama. A performance of Mbong at a June 2019 Banda Heritage Event can be viewed through a link below. Ahenkro, 21 July, 1995.
The Banda Cultural Centre provides space for community gatherings and guest rooms for Banda Research Project and other community visitors. The Centre's motto/logo is "Nyu nunu," (Nafaanra) or "Unity." Commissioned in 1995, the main building was constructed in 1994-95 through a combination of Banda Research Project funding and communal labor supplied by Ahenkro's four Unit Committees. The building is administered and maintained by the community. Ahenkro, July 1995.
The paved interior courtyard of the Banda Cultural Centre is surrounded by roofed verandas on three sides and a suite of rooms along its east side. The Banda Cultural Centre provides space for community events and guest rooms for Banda Research Project and other community visitors. Visible along the porch in front of the guest rooms are headpans used by the Banda Research Project for archaeological excavation, tipped over to dry. A tree seedling, center courtyard, is surrounded by a fence to protect it from goats. Ahenkro, July 1995.
Female elders are seated under a thatch awning outside the Banda Cultural Centre on the day of its commissioning, Ann B. Stahl (seated center) has just been enstooled as an honorary Queen Mother of the Banda Traditional Council under the stool name Yadwo Gongo II. To the left is Binghamton University graduate student Alex Caton (Peni Yaa) and seated to the right wearing white cloth is Afua Wewa, one of the Banda Queen Mother's elders. A young man holds an umbrella over the Banda Queen Mother, Lelɛɛ Akosua Kepefu, who sits behind Alex Caton. Ahenkro, 21 July, 1995.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Ahenkro
Subjects:
Queen Mother; Banda Cultural Centre; Enstoolment; Banda Traditional Council
Ann B. Stahl (left) and Sampson Attah (right) stand in front of the Banda Cultural Centre shortly before the building was commissioned (21 July, 1995). The Banda Cultural Centre provides space for community events and guest rooms for Banda Research Project and other community visitors. The Centre's motto/logo is "Nyu nunu," (Nafaanra) or "Unity." This is symbolized by an Adinkra symbol showing two crocodiles who share a common stomach (two heads, two tails, one stomach; referred to as funtumfunafu in Twi). The symbol conveys the meaning "why fight over food when you share a stomach?" The Cultural Centre's main building pictured here was constructed in 1994-95 through a combination of Banda Research Project funding and communal labor supplied by Ahenkro's four Unit Committees. The building is administered and maintained by the community. Ahenkro, July 1995.